Very Vintage Sitting Here

I'm here today to share a card using a couple of my very favorite stamps sets...sadly, both will be retiring when this current catalog ends.

The Very Vintage set adds a pretty floral design in the corner and helps break up the long lines of the rope on the swing. I also used the birthday sentiment from that set as well. I love the idea of sitting and relaxing on a porch swing, so even without the adorable critters and accessories to add to the swing I would still be drawn to the Sitting Here stamp set. Plus if you know me, you know I love to watercolor, so that is another plus.

If you don't already have these sets in your collection, you better grab them up while they are still available. While you are at it, make sure to check out the entire Retirement List for other favorite items before they are gone for good.

So Hoppy Valentine

I meant to post this card BEFORE Valentines day, but got busy with other things...sorry about that!  The little frogs in the So Hoppy Together set are just too cute, and just perfect for a Valentine or any occasion. This fun set can be yours for FREE during Sale-A-Bration!

The tiny hearts that the froggie is juggling and the "love you" sentiment are from the retired Bloomin' Love set. The DSP used here is also retired and is from the Stacked With Love Designer Series Paper Stack. The stack is loaded with cute Valentine themed prints and I had a lot of scraps left. This card layout is perfect for using up those scraps!

A quick brag to share my favorite sweet Valentine shown here in a surprise photo session I did for her Mommy & Daddy. The pennant banner in the background was created using SU! products.

She's at such a fun age and she sure brings so much joy into all our lives! Have a wonderful day!

Nine Lives

If you are a cat lover like I am, then you will love the new Nine Lives stamp set!

Here I have stamped one of the cat images and watercolored it using my Aqua Painter. I then masked the kitty and stamped some foliage and flowers using images from the Jar of Love set to create a little scene.

The cool thing about this set is that it coordinates with the Cat Punch! Even though I didn't use it here, it will be nice to have a set to go with the punch.

I also used a couple other products from the new Occasions Catalog...the Stitched Rectangle Framelits and the Lace Embossing Folder.

Thanks for visiting today!

Hoppy Birthday

Here's a fun birthday card featuring the adorable Sale-A-Bration set So Hoppy Together. When I was creating the Bella & Friends shaker card that I shared earlier this week I thought this cute froggie would be perfect holding a bunch of balloons, so I used the puppy and balloon image from that set...obviously just inking the balloon.

The Buffalo Check background inked in Bermuda Bay was perfect for this guy card.

I used some Crystal Effects over the balloons for some extra detail. As you can see, I'm already getting a lot of use out of my Stitched Rectangle Framelits...I seem to grab them for every card since I got them! Here's a look at the inside of the card and the coordinating envelope.

This set is so cute! It can be yours for free with any $50 order you place during Sale-A-Bration! Visit this link to see all your choices: 2019 Sale-A-Bration

Bella & Friend Shaker Card

It's hard to believe, but my sweet granddaughter has already turned two! She's at that age where everything she says, her adorable expressions, etc...are all just so darn CUTE! She just loves animals... and puppies are one of her favorites, so of course I had to use Bella & Friends to create her birthday card.

I thought a fun shaker card would be perfect, so I used the new Stitched Rectangle Framelits to easily create a frame. One balloon just wasn't enough, so I masked off the single balloon from the image and stamped a couple more. I watercolored the image using my Aqua Painter and various colored inks. Pool Party cardstock was used for the main, embossed panel and Berry Burst for the die cut frame.

Here's a look at the various confetti sequins and microbeads as they shake around inside the card. Madelyn liked the card because of the movement and the sound created by the shaker element. She wanted to inspect it closer and almost tore off the frame...but luckily her mommy was quicker than she was!

Very Vintage Friend

Better hope my friend who I made this birthday card for doesn't see this blog title! LOL Seriously though, at our age vintage does better than "old", right? Not sure "very" vintage sounds good, but hey, it works with what I have used here...

The new Lace Embossing Folder sure pairs up nicely with the beautiful host set Very Vintage, don't you think? I used Fresh Fig and Tranquil Tide card stock as well as the ink to watercolor the image using my Aqua Painter. 

One of the things I was most excited to see in the new Occasions Catalog were Stitched Rectangle Framelits! I used a couple of them here. The cool thing about these framelits is that it cuts out both a stitched frame and a layering piece at the same time. 

Have a GREAT weekend!

A Collection of Spirited Snowmen Cards

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Like many of you, I was super busy with the usual holiday preparations of shopping, baking, wrapping, etc...so I didn't have time to post on my blog. I did however manage to get some handmade Christmas cards finished and in the mail. I mainly used the adorable Spirited Snowman set along with Snow Is Glistening, Half Full and Buffalo Check stamps. Today I would like to share those cards.

I just love this cute skater snowman...above he is shown with the Buffalo Check background in Real Red  and layered die cut snowflakes. Below is the Granny Apple Green version with a hand cut holly image from the set.

Another version using the beautiful die cut snowflake swirl...

Here he is yet again using Pool Party and the Tin Tile Embossing Folder. I was happy to see that both this awesome new embossing folder and the Buffalo Check background will be sticking around after the Holiday Catalog.

This snowman couple and the sentiment is so sweet, isn't it? All these images were colored using my Aqua Painter and various inks pooled in the lids of the ink pads...still my favorite way to color. 

This snowman likes to have fun...here he is with some wine. I used the Half Full stamp set and the masking technique to create thses next couple of cards. 

A look at the inside...

As you can see, I have had a lot of fun with the Spirited Snowman set and have created a variety of fun cards with it. Today is the last day that you can purchase this stamp set and many others from the Holiday catalog. 

Cheers to you in the New Year! Wishing you much happiness and creativity in 2019!

So Hoppy Together

Taking a little break finishing up Christmas cards to play with a few new goodies that arrived here this week. It's that time of year when demonstrators can pre-order items from the upcoming Occasions and Sale-A-Bration catalogs. I grabbed a few of my favorite items offered along with some catalogs.

The So Hoppy Together stamp set is adorable and you can get it FREE with a $50 order during Sale-A-Bration! I was excited to play with this stamp set, but the item I was most excited to see offered are the Stitched Rectangle Framelits! I know these are going to get lots of use! Both the positive and negative pieces have the stitched look around the edges, which is really cool for both creating frames and layering.

Some Stampin' Up! news in the New Year...there will no longer be wood mounted stamps offered. The red rubber cling stamps will all have a new stickier cling mount that actually stick AWESOMELY to the blocks with the labels on! I was one to never use labels on my stamps because I hated them falling off when cleaning. These new labels were easy to apply and I am happy to report that the stamps stayed put on my blocks even when cleaning them on the Stampin' Scrub!

I used the Buffalo Check background stamp inked in Granny Apple Green for the base and my Aqua Painter to color the image. I've read of some having difficulties getting a good image with this stamp, so I hesitated to purchase it even though I loved it. I'm glad I went ahead and got it because I got a perfect image the very first time I inked it up. I have stamped many more backgrounds using it  since, all with good results, so I thought I would share how I like to stamp using the big background stamps.

First, lay the stamp face up on your work surface and ink as shown in the photo above. Lay your card stock piece on top of the image as shown below.

I then cover it with a piece of scrap paper that's bigger than the stamp and rub over the entire top surface with my bone folder. This method has always worked great for me. Hopefully this helps if you have been having a difficult time getting good images with your background stamps.

Have a GREAT weekend!

Glistening Spirited Snowman

You can almost feel the cool breeze blowing in his adorable face as this spirited snowman ice skates in a flurry of snowflakes. This is another fabulous image from the Spirited Snowman stamp set.

The Pool Party panel was stamped using the Snow Is Glistening stamp set. Three of the snowflake images were placed on one block to easily create this snowy background. Don't you just love the snowflake swirl die cut? It's one of my favorite dies included in the Snowfall Thinlits Dies. After watercoloring the snowman using my Aqua Painter I brushed over him with Wink of Stella so he really shimmers like snow in sunshine.

If you love the Snow Is Glistening stamp set and the Snowfall Thinlits Dies but don't yet have them, don't hold off any longer...

After tomorrow, November 30th, they will no longer be available. Shop now and don't forget to select me as your demo. For smaller orders that don't reach a hostess level you can use the Hostess Code: JAG97PFA

Have a GREAT day!

Spirited Half Full Snowmen

The other day as I was cleaning up after a stamping session I wondered if I could get this fun snowman from the Spirited Snowman set to hold a wine glass from the Half Full set. So I had to stop what I was doing and try it out!

As you can see...it worked out just as I had envisioned! I love when that happens! So I had a late night in my studio working on wine drinking snowmen! I went with Merry Merlot, naturally!, as my background layer and stamped it with snowflakes from the Snow is Glistening stamp set. The beautiful snowflake swirl at the bottom was cut from the coordinating Snowfall Thinlits  Dies. 

The snowmen were stamped and then the arm holding the glass was masked to add the wine glass. After I had my fun little scene stamped I watercolored the image using my Aquapainter. 

If you love the look of this snowflake set and coordinating dies as much as I do but don't have yours yet...don't forget that these are only available for a limited time only. I honestly really LOVE these, so I highly recommend adding them to your collection. 

Also, starting on Friday Stampin' Up! is offering many items in the catalog at 10% off! Check the SU! Website for more details. Right now, I know that each day for 6 days there will be a different category of products offered from the Annual Catalog. By the end of the 6 days, almost everything in the catalog will have been on sale! 

Day 1 - November 23–24 will be PAPER & EMBELLISHMENTS. So it will be a good day to stock up on card stock, envelopes and ribbon, etc...

As the sentiment says here, the best wines are ones we drink with friends (and /or family!) Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family/and or friends! I am truly thankful for all of you who stop by to visit me here and leave such nice comments. I am especially grateful for those of you who place orders with me. Thanks so much!

Love Never Melts

I have a weakness for adorable snowmen. So it's no surprise that the Spirited Snowmen set in the Holiday Catalog was at the top of my "must have" list!

All the images in this set are just darling and fun to color, but I think my favorite is this snowman couple, paired with this sentiment...it's just so sweet! The Pool Party layer was stamped with snowflakes from the Snow is Glistening stamp set inked in Coastal Cabana. The die cut snowflakes are cut using the coordinating Snowfall Thinlits. I love how this set of dies contains solid shapes to layer the more intricate snowflakes. 

After watercoloring this cute couple using my Aquapainter and various inks, I brushed over the top of the snowmen using Wink of Stella. This adds such a beautiful snow-like shimmer. 

The Snow is Glistening stamp set and the Snowfall Thinlits are available only during the month of November...or while supplies last. These really are fantastic! To avoid disappoint, shop now while they are still available. Everyone who purchases these two items from me will receive a FREE project tutorial from me as an added bonus/thank you. 

Lovely Floral Embossed Thank You

Hello! I knew it had been a while since I posted, but didn't realize it had been this long! Recently I have had a few people reach out to me to see if all was well because they noticed I hadn't shared in a while. Thank you so much, I truly appreciate that!

Things have been going well here, but truthfully I just haven't been finding the time to stamp in recent months. Many of you know that we were blessed with a precious granddaughter almost two years ago now. With her birth came a renewed interest in photography as I captured each milestone along with all the adorable moments in between. Lately, in my spare time I have put all my creative energy into learning more about photography so I can take even better photos. My stamping classroom has been transformed into a photo studio, so I have not offered classes since the Spring.

After seeing photos of my darling granddaughter, I started getting requests from others for me to photograph their little ones. Right now I am in the beginning stages of starting my own portrait photography business. It's exciting, yet a little scary! There are so many things to consider and I am learning so many new things as I go.

I'm sure you didn't come here to read my ramblings...LOL so here is a card I created for a wonderful and talented stamping friend/customer that I've had the pleasure to know through blogging. 

I feel SU! has really knocked it out of the park with their selection of embossing folders lately! This card uses two from the latest Annual Catalog. The main focus is on the Lovely Floral embossed panel. I used my Aqua Painter to watercolor the embossed design and then went over the color with Wink of Stella for some shimmer.

Also used here is the Stitched All Around stamp set and the coordinating Stitched Label Framelits along with the Tufted Embossing Folder.

Here is a little collage I created using some photos I took of our Maddy as we enjoyed a beautiful autumn day here in Michigan. She sure has brought so much joy into our lives!

For now, I plan to remain a SU! demo as long as I meet my minimums. I can still take orders, but I did cancel my SU! business website several months back. I am so grateful to all the wonderful people I have met over the years through my SU! business...both online and in person. With the colder weather I will hopefully find more time to stamp again, and with that hopefully share more posts here. Thanks for visiting today!

Peaceful Place Birthday

Last week I spent a very enjoyable afternoon stamping with a dear friend. We had fun sharing all of our new SU! goodies. She had recently ordered the gorgeous set Peaceful Place. It is on my wishlist so I was excited to ink it up and create a masculine birthday card for my Uncle.

I enjoyed watercoloring this with mainly new and returning colors...Mossy Meadow, Granny Apple Green and Balmy Blue.

After watercoloring the image I adhered it to the panel of Mossy Meadow Cardstock and ran the two layers through the Big Shot using the Subtle Embossing Folder. I just love this nice bit of texture it gives to my watercolored images! It doesn't show up really well in photos, but take my word for it...the Subtle EF really is a must have!

I finished off my card with a sentiment from the Very Vintage stamp set rather than one of the great sentiments that came with the Peaceful Places set because I didn't think about stamping any of the sentiments while stamping with my friend.